Rebound
by Shadowfang3000
Summary: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." - The cunning and naive Ekko, after living a life dedicated to science, has finally spotted a dame that appeals to everything he longs for! However, how could a youth from Zaun with no understanding of romance in the slightest court such a beauty? Why, with time travel and a lot of patience of course!


**(A/N):** Now then, back to the standard LOL musings!

The concept for this fic originally came to mind a couple of days after Ekko's release, whilst going through his quotes and checking out champion interactions. It was interesting to find out that the lil' gel-head has a potential crush on Janna of all people O_o (She's from Zaun and lives in Piltover, for those who aren't old lore scrubs like me :P)

From there a small concept came to mind. How would someone like Ekko - a teenager probably around fifteen to seventeen years old - approach romance and feelings on their own, without the help and guidance of another figure? With that in mind, have an awkward attempt at a comedy aimed at a somewhat younger audience than my usual fics that attempts to demonstrate how a time travelling kid would pick up the ladies!

... This A/N is far too succinct, something must be wrong :O

 **WARNING:** Spelling errors, OOC characters, dull attempts at comedy, mild sexual connotations, a couple of crude jokes here and there, and me trying to write the mental process of a teenager going through _that_ phase!

 **Rebound**

Love had never really been his thing.

It should come as no surprise that Ekko had always been one of those cool, distant kids when it came to the topic. No sir, he was too busy being awesome and playing ball with the guys to have time for girls, relationships and all that other corny stuff. Quite a few of the orphans of Zaun respected him for his composure. Heck, some of them looked up to him as the pinnacle of self control!

Of course it was all a cover. In actuality he was exactly the same as any other teenage boy, devoid of stimulus and conflicted over the rush of hormones and endorphins that growing up wrought. To put it bluntly, there was a reason why he wore exceptionally baggy trousers wherever he went.

That begged the question of _why_ he feigned distance. Surely it wasn't as simple as him trying to be one of the classy kids on the block? Call him arrogant, but he thought his haircut and mannerisms on their own put him up there in idol territory.

He'd just never had much luck with the whole affair. Now he knew that everyone who got burnt by a girl went for an excuse like that, going on about how they're entirely nice guys and all women have standards higher than those ones you see on Demacian watchtowers, but you'd probably appreciate his circumstances at tad bit more.

Was it normal for your first crush to turn out to be a little bit on the psychotic side? We're not talking " _collects teddy bears and gives them all names_ " sort of crazy, we're talking the " _collects teddy bears, fills them up with enough lead to clobber a wharf rat, then proceeds to use them as makeshift ammunition whilst laughing all the way_ " kind.

 _Call him finicky, call him squeamish, but that wasn't his sort of thing._

 _I mean teddy bears? Eugh._

When his parents had found out about his failed tryst with a girl who had skin as white as his mohawk, and hair as blue as his mood, they'd been understanding and considerate. Say what you want about his often absent parents, but they were no monsters. They wanted to spend time with him as much as he did. Dad had told him it was perfectly normal to feel a little bit down about it, and that everyone had an unrequited love or two.

Yet somehow he doubted that anyone had encountered such an excitable and explosive girl before.

Explosive? Get it?

To be honest he should've known. All of the guys had warned him to step back. Even their pink haired boss had recommended backing up. Don't feed bread to the animal, unless you want your fingers nipped off. A shame that he was the curious type.

 _They always said she was special._

 _Just not in that way._

And so he thought that was it. He was burnt once, and he'd learned from it. This is the end, my friend, the end. He'd stop bothering with love and feelings and all that corny junk, and intensify his focus on what he was _good_ at. We're talking science baby, pure and clean. Science is the most reliable mistress of them all. You can trust it to never blow up in your face out of nowhere.

 _... Don't question that metaphor._

It was enjoyable. At first, at least. Pretty flippin' awesome. In just three months he made more progress on upgrading his signature piece of tech - the Zero Drive - than he'd pulled off in the previous two years. If he was this efficient at doing homework, he'd have to start collecting novelty ties and writing acceptance speeches!

Sometimes it made him wonder just how far the minds of Zaun and Piltover could've gotten if it wasn't for the base impulses of sexuality. What could humanity's finest have achieved if their minds were laser-focused on what mattered, rather than distracted by the sight of fox-tailed flirts and ditzy yordles that tripped over and eeped the word " _wah_!~" a lot?

 _What the heck was the appeal of fox girls anyway?_

 _Wouldn't the tails, like, get in the way or something?_

But none of that mattered. The days were good, once you got past all the bleakness. The prodigal child from Zaun had all the time in the world, quite literally, to tinker and toil with the sort of equations that could turn minds into mashed potato. If you thought quadratics were complicated, you wouldn't want to live in his life. Not for a single second.

Everything was dandy.

But then he encountered a woman called Janna.

Maybe whoever it was that chose women to distract clever people had taken a page from Ekko's book, realising that he wasn't a fan of stick-thin crazy people, fox girls or one foot tall yordles. Because Janna? Well, she was the exact _opposite_ of all the above.

She was _voluptuous_. He didn't even know what _voluptuous_ meant, but he knew it applied to her. Tall, calm, collected, flippin' _blonde_? Turns out all those were the sort of things that got Ekko ticking, which was news to him to say the least.

Surely there was more to it though? How else could she have reignited the fire that he'd doused with enough water to ground every single dang ship in Bilgewater twice over? Was it her voice? Her attitude? Her ability to literally control the weather? Her extraordinarily skimpy getup that put every single curve on display?

 _Yeah, probably the skimpy getup._

They had no history together honestly. Do you want to hear the entirety of their interactions together, in an extended cut? They'd walked past eachother on a lifeless street early in the morning dusk and exchanged a brief nod. Nothing more.

Well actually, she _had_ smiled at him. Right at him, _smiled._ Surely that was some sort of sign, wasn't it? Who just randomly smiles at passersby beyond psychotic murderers?

Man, what he'd pay for her to make him breathless. By the minute.

Oh, he understood what he was throwing away. He'd fallen for a femme fatale for sure - it'd be like taking all of his potential out back and having it shot because " _it's what it would've wanted_ ". Heck, Janna was a _Pilty_ for crying out loud. He might as well have hocked a massive loogie at every single code and virtue he'd followed since birth.

But you should try male hormones someday; they can make you settle on some pretty strange decisions once they got a good hold of you. Be it for better, or worse.

So why did he bring Janna up? Well, believe it or not he'd spent the past few weeks trying to track her down. Now he understood that in a regular context it may be a tad bit creepy if someone followed you across the entirety of a country, but in Ekko's case it was out of _love._ And really, doesn't love justify those sort of things?

On the bright side, she wasn't very easy to miss. There weren't many avatars of Mother Nature in Valoran believe it or not. Just the one. Maybe her beauty and power combined were so great that adding any more to her entourage would throw the world off kilter?

It was awkward travelling to Piltover as a Zaunite. Ignoring the idle abuse that gets thrown at you, the actual route is hectic and expensive. Thankfully he had more than enough money to pay the way. Well, a man called " _Hector Baronde_ " who'd dropped his wallet near his gang's joint did at least. It wasn't stealing in all honesty, he was just borrowing it for a non-specific period. He'd totally pay it all back one day. Eventually.

Janna had picked a scenic spot atop one of Piltover's many skyscrapers, seated at what must've been the fiftieth cafe that he'd spotted across the pristine " _City of Progress"._ It was one of those super classy cafes. You know the ones where you can get more than one type of coffee, and the baristas were unnervingly enthusiastic all the time?

All the people who frequented these places were arrogant simpletons. But for some reason with Janna - and Janna alone - it actually added to her mystique. It was cool and mature, and _certainly_ attractive. Call him a hypocrite.

The young man was captivated for a moment just watching her, clutching onto the fastening strap of the Z-Drive. He brought the darn thing with him everywhere; he just wasn't comfortable with leaving it unattended, where any old fart could get their mitts on it. If it went missing, the only person he could blame was himself.

 _Boy, he hated being responsible._

Blonde and beautiful, the voluptuous - and he was sticking to that word - woman sat with her long legs crossed and a fancy looking cup of tea hooked between her fingers. She looked like the sort of woman you'd put on recruitment posters for the army, draped over some military hardware exclaiming " _I want you!_ ".

Now how was he supposed to do this?

Ekko had spent a full hour picking through the many relationship magazines that his old pink-headed boss has left behind before doing a runner so many years back. She'd been a hero to nearly all of the street urchins in Zaun; even him. Rest assured, she was the closest thing to authority that he'd ever followed.

He'd scoured through the lot of them and compiled all the information he could gather. They all had dating advice on how to pick up women rather than men strangely, despite belonging to a girl in the first place. He didn't question this, for some reason that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

She'd always been the inspirational sort; a role model for all the kids to follow the footsteps of. She used to be so _cool_ , until she departed one day to the great unknown. Now Ekko was one of the few kids left that still remembered her, and the sort of things she'd say as she split the day's pickings fairly between the young and old.

 _"Vi stands for Violence!"_

 _No that wasn't it._

 _"Get dunked!"_

 _Not that either._

 _"Who needs a plan?"_

 _Thar she blows._

Patting his back pocket, Ekko made sure that his makeshift script for the evening was on his person. He'd rehearsed it once or twice at this point, but there was no harm in bringing it with him - even minds as fantastic as his could have the occasional brain fart. He ran a hand through his hair, his physics-defying do springing back into place with enough force to give him whiplash.

The prodigy straightened his posture, put on a face, and approached the lone lady.

Janna didn't notice him at first, too busy busying herself with the latest issue of some grown-up book series. It had a _hardcover_ for crying out loud. Was there anything she did that wasn't dripping with maturity? He had to resist sighing like a dreamy schoolgirl when the popular heartthrob came dropping on by.

Ekko decided to take a seat opposite of her - uninvited - and fix her with a leg bending smile. It took a few moments for her to finally realise that someone had appeared, looking up from her text to spot a short squirt with a grin as goofy as his fashion sense.

Her pinkie was out! He couldn't believe his eyes! He'd never thought that in all of his years he'd come across someone who drank with their pinkies out in a non-ironic way! With her lovely legs all crossed and inviting, all she needed was a butler and an umbrella to look like the noblewoman she truly was!

Of course all of these seductive comments were in his head. All Ekko was doing was giving Janna a long, harsh, unsettling stare.

While Janna kept her composure, she was certainly a tad bit confused. **"... Hello?"**

Ekko grunted in response. He'd had quite a lengthy introduction planned, but his tongue currently had the consistency of a smashed watermelon. He was honestly worried that he might choke on it if he weren't careful.

She lowered her mug, settling it down on a saucer. It made no clinking noise - she had ways beyond comprehension. **"... Excuse me, who are you?"**

Perking up with sudden realisation, Ekko shot a worried glance behind himself to make sure that she was speaking to him in particular. Confident that no one else was going to steal her hard-earned attention, he spun around and prodded at his scrawny chest. **"M-Me?"** he questioned, earning an inquisitive nod. Ekko tried to casually slouch in his seat, desperately patting for his back pocket. He'd forgotten his dang script, and lo-and-behold he couldn't find the freakin' thing! He didn't panic per se, although he was certainly terrified to the point of losing all self control. **"I'm... I-ummm... Yes."**

Janna shot her award winning smile - the sort of smile toothpaste companies would pay a fortune to have star in their commercials for just a fraction of a microsecond. She nodded in understanding. She was _so_ understanding. **"I have to go do something, sorry."** she announced with mock disappointment, rising to her daring full height and calmly - yet hastily - making her exit.

 **"Hang on!"** Ekko objected, fumbling for a bunched up ball of paper. Tearing it from his trouser pockets, he waved the floppy sheet back and forth frantically. **"I found the script!"** he reassured, appealing to her increasingly small form in the distance. **"Come back, I'm not finished seducing you yet!"**

She was already gone.

Ekko listed some of the ruder curses in his repertoire, then felt a tad bit guilty for it. He held his face in disappointment, rubbing at his temples with finger and thumb. Eventually gaining a fraction of his composure once more, Ekko reached for the drawstring of the Zero Drive and catapulted himself backwards through time and space.

 _Do-Over!_

After a rather nauseating experience of going through everything you've just done backwards, Ekko found himself back a fair distance from Janna with his script in his hands. He shook his head in disorientation, trying to concentrate on the matter at hand. Time travel always had its adverse side effects - he highly recommended avoiding its use when you've recently gone to the toilet. There're few experiences more horrifying than going through something like that backwards.

 _He didn't use gel for his hair, you know._

 _It wasn't naturally white either._

Learning from his past mistake, Ekko decided to keep his script on hand this time. It was written in his usual short-hand cursive script, which while to most was nothing but gobbledegook to him it was clear as day. That was the whole point of it - that way no one could steal his important writings, be it theories on the Zero-Drive's resonance, or the embarrassing love poems about nature's blonde avatar that he'd scribbled down in his journal a couple of nights back.

He made the walk to talk the talk once again, taking up the same seat at the same table while the same beauty looked up from the same novella to glance at him in confusion. Ekko tried to restrain the mild insanity of his previous smile, keeping it a tad bit more tame.

Janna lowered the same cup with the same silent grace. **"... Hello?"**

Giving her a short wave, Ekko coolly leant in his chair and shot a glance at his notepad. This was going to be easy-peasy yordle-sneezy. He could already taste the familiar sweet of success in the air - and when you'd travelled through reality as much as the boy who shattered time, you had a knack for sensing that.

 **"Good evening fair...!"** the prodigy froze, the infamous cat of metaphor having a swipe at his tongue. **"...** _ **Fuh-Fuh-Fair**_ **...?"**

The forever patient Janna looked mildly baffled as he squinted at the black scrawl that he'd painted onto his piece of paper. Just what was this _drivel_? All of the letters almost seemed to merge together into a collection of blots and blobs. Was he holding the paper the wrong way? Was the ink seeping through or something? Had he picked up a child's crayon drawing by mistake? He gave it a once over, before coming to a fatal realisation.

 _Oh no._

 _He'd forgotten how to read!_

All of the stress and paranoia had culminated into him losing his grasp of the human tongue! It was like his mind was rebelling against his heart, being the cheeky gremlin that it was and trying to ruin everything for him. He was having none of that!

Using a combination of focus, approximation and sheer force of will, Ekko did what he could to try and patch together a script on the spot. He was pretty sure he'd get the same point across regardless. **"H-Hello there, miss."** he began, using the voice he usually reserved for his parents when he'd done something bad. **"I'm Ekko, and I... Am** _ **pleasant**_ **...?** _ **Pleasured**_ **?** _ **Pleased**_ **?** _ **Pleased**_ **to meet you, that's... T-That's it..."**

Janna ran a hand through her hair, throwing it out a like a mermaid emerging from the depths.

 _Did that mean something?_

 **"Apologising for my interception, chuckle gently whilst smiling... N-No, that's a stage direction..."** Ekko muttered dorkishly, batting through a few pages with a sudden lapse of composure. He was skipping the meat and going straight for the jugular - the bare bones of his masterpiece in literature. **"It** _ **is**_ **a stage direction, isn't it?"**

She fidgeted a bit - not to escape from his clutches as he'd worried, but rather to find a more comfortable position. She wouldn't abandon him like most women, she wasn't that sort of person!

 _How about that?_

 _Girls, man._

He held the sheet as close to his face as he could feasible manage without tearing it in half with his nose. Did he really write this nonsense? What on Valoran was he thinking? **"M-May I... Be your** _ **kuh-niggit**_ **in shining** _ **armoire**_ **?"** he misread, licking his perpetually cracked lips in bewilderment. **"** _ **Armoire**_ **? Isn't that a wardrobe?"**

At last she giggled her adorable giggle, turning every passerby's knees into jelly and sending them crashing into the ground. **"Knight."**

Night?

Ekko shot an interrogating look at the sky, seeing nothing but blue - and a heck of a lot of blimps. **"S-Sorry?"** he stuttered, missing the point. **"What's so funny?"**

 **"You said '** _ **kuh-niggit**_ **'"** she pointed out, her lips curled in an understanding - and totally not condescending - smile. **"It's pronounced "** _ **knight**_ **", I believe."**

Of course he understood now. It was flippin' obvious now that she'd said it. **"Oh."** he muttered with restraint. Was it some sort of joke? Darn it, she was trying to be funny! **"Ha ha!"** he shouted rather than laughed, trying his best to appeal to her like one of Piltover's many Yesmen. **"Ha ha ha** _ **haaaa**_ **!** _ **Hoo**_ **!"**

Janna looked taken aback by his sudden outburst, to say the least. Once he wiped the rabid foam from his mouth and considered what he'd just done, he realised just how stupid it must've sounded. Awkwardly he screwed up the script and forked it back into the murky depths of his trouser pocket, never to be seen again. No doubt archaeologists millennia from now would dig up his remains and find the strange bundle of text, and spend a lifetime trying to work out its meaning.

There was a mug of coffee sat in front of him, in a fancy cup just like Janna's. Ekko shot it his best approximation of a stealthy glance. He hadn't noticed it until now, believe it or not. Hoping to save some face, the young man reached for the beverage and tried to take a measured sip like a mature adult would.

 _Revolting!_

As Ekko spluttered and choked on the foul mud, Janna spoke in concern. **"An old gentleman who was here before me left that coffee."** she pointed out, gesturing at the dregs that he'd just drank. **"It's a few hours old. Why are you drinking it?"**

Ekko's head fell under the table, spitting all manner of black and green goop onto the floor. Where the heck did the green even come from? **"I..."** he heaved, coughing out a chunk as big as his teeth. **"I don't know!"**

He continued to release all manner of disgusting things onto the floor, in various states of decay and consistency. A small part of him actually wanted to run tests on the visceral gunk he was upchucking. He could've sworn some of it could be carbon dated back to the last Ice Age.

Satisfied for the moment, although in serious need of some mouthwash, Ekko rose from the table a new man. Although tragically, it appeared that she was gone. Again.

Ekko grumbled in distaste, the cafe's many patrons looking at him like he was some sort of weirdo. Shrugging off the haters, he reached for the Z-Drive and readied himself for round three. He still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve... Well, he didn't actually _have_ sleeves but you get the point.

He yanked at the drawstring once again.

 _Reversing Polarity!_

Slingshotting backwards once more to the exact same point as last time, Ekko stood by the cafe's entrance with that failure of a script sat in his hands. As if something as childish as _that_ would help him. Bah!

No, what he needed was a personality. Now Ekko was a confident young man who was sure of what he believed in, but he couldn't help but worry that his morally upstanding persona wasn't the sort of thing that tickled most ladies fancy. If there was one thing he knew for certain though, it was that girls absolutely adored _jerks_.

It was yet another mystery of the opposite sex that he'd never truly know the reasoning behind. Honestly, what was the appeal of having a boyfriend who was rude and controlling? Might as well date your school teacher. Didn't really make much sense to him, but then he wasn't a girl last time he looked.

Puffing out his chest and striding forward with a goofy swagger, the prodigy advanced on his prize once more. It would've had quite the intimidating effect if he had the body for it, but then Ekko was rather short - not to mention twig thin in all departments save for cunning.

Janna flinched in surprise as a boy suddenly threw himself into the chair opposite her, leaning into it side saddle and drumming his fingers against the table's surface. She submissively closed her book, placing it on her lap. **"... Hello?"**

 **"I'm sitting here."** Ekko growled huskily, making his domineering presence known.

She looked to her left and her right, as if seeking counsel from an angel and a demon sat on both her shoulders. Eventually she returned, her voice a discomforting monotone. **"Yes, you are."**

 **"Tell me your name."** he push on. He knew her name already of course, not that it was creepy or anything. **"Uhh...** _ **Toots**_ **."**

Janna folded her arms across her chest, looking like an angry mother. Rest assured, if he was a misbehaving child he'd own up within an instant if faced with her stare. **"You first."**

Ekko faltered - appropriately - instantaneously. So much so that there wasn't even a point in detailing his struggle to resist. **"M-My name is Ekko."** he stuttered squeamishly, clenching his fist. He was meant to be a _jerk!_ **"... And man, am I a jerk!"**

 _Very subtle._

 **"Could I get some freakin' service here?"** Ekko hollered idiotically, frantically flagging down one of the baristas. Said barista frowned with disdain, yet obediently - in loyalty to his boss and nothing else - began to ready a drink. **"Y-You've gotta be loud to get them to work. I'm a jerk, so I can do it."** he whispered conspiratorially to Janna, who may or may not have actually been listening. The barista eventually arrived with his drink in hand, placing it down on the table. **"Oh, thank you very much sir."** he spoke genuinely, bowing his head. Being polite to servers was something that his parents had hotwired into his brain.

Reaching for her lap Janna pulled her hardcover open and returned to reading, looking rather disinterested to say the least. He certainly sounded like quite the meanie; she wouldn't give him the light of day.

 **"Just got back from stealing candy from..."** the prodigy boasted, leaning back in his seat with his drink steaming before him. He had no intention of drinking it; it just made him look all the more stylish. **"From a baby?"**

 **"Sounds daring."** the avatar mumbled, refusing to look up from her text.

 **"Daring is my middle name!"** Ekko announced. He wasn't actually too sure what his middle name was - he'd never bothered asking. **"Trouble is basically what I am!"** he pressed, bearing his teeth in what he hoped was a dastardly and awe-inspiring grin oozing with the self-confidence he was desperately trying to feign. **"Oh** _ **man,**_ **am I a jerk or what?"**

 **"You keep on saying that."** Janna licked a digit and turned a page. **"And variations of that sentence."**

Ekko tilted his head, his hair remaining stationary **. "What, you mean that I keep on reminding you that I'm a total jerk?"** he asked, only to prove her point. He frowned, **"... Man, you're right."**

At last her gaze rose from her novel, her mysterious eyes alight with clarity. **"It's more than obvious that you're pretending, Ekko**." she said his name for the first time, sending a jolt all the way down from his spine to his toes. There was enough of a shock going down his back to power the whole of Zaun for hours on end. The brush on his head must've been buzzing with static electricity! The gorgeous lady gave her own recommendation. **"Why not be yourself?"**

Shaken by her words the prodigy suddenly leapt out of his chair, sending a waiter's tray - and a waiter - crashing to the floor. **"H-Hold onto that thought!"** he commanded, reaching back for the Z-Drive and fumbling for its drawstring before tugging it once again.

 _Rewind!_

He landed a few moments earlier than he had following his previous bout of time travel, or " _chronobreak_ " as he'd dubbed it in his journal entries. It seemed he was only capable of travelling back a minor distance at very specific intervals, which often made precision quite the pain. His last attempt must've failed so quickly that he'd ended back even further than before.

There was a minor problem that this brought into play. If Ekko were to take too long in his attempts to chat up the voluptuous - that word again - Janna, he would be unable to return to this point in time. He would instead end up earlier on in his current attempt of courtship, effectively making it impossible for him to try again from scratch.

And that was a bit of a bummer.

But it didn't matter now, Ekko thought. Because now, he was confident in what she wanted. If he wanted to stand a chance in winning her favour, there was no point in _pretending_. She wanted him to be _himself_.

The script still sitting in his back pocket, the flirty teen opened the cafe doors and made for her table. He'd been through this time and time again - there was a man complaining about the quality of his drink to the far left, a waiter cleaning up a table to the right, and his prize dead on through the centre.

Deciding to be a tad bit more logical, Ekko veered off course for a moment and went towards the counter. He was spending precious seconds here, but he felt that it was worth it. He asked for a drink, pulling out " _Hector Baronde's_ " wallet once again and taking a fistful of notes. Man, he owed that stranger a lot.

Spiritually, not fiscally.

The barista gave him a weird look as she handed him his coffee. Maybe it was his peculiar Zaunite fashion sense? Or perhaps it was his short stature, the brush of his hair at eye level. Regardless, she gave him his order and nodded in thanks.

 _Now_ he'd make for the table. You'd be more accepting of someone asking to sit with you in a cafe if they actually had a drink on them, wouldn't you? Ekko closed the gap, the lovely lady before him totally engrossed in her story. **"S-Sorry miss, but is anyone sitting here?"**

Plucked out of her wonderland, Janna looked up from her book with well-hidden surprise. After a quick scan of the rather busy cafe, she answered **"No."** before at last facing the source of the voice. The boy looked tired to say the least - from constant time travel, not that she knew. **"Would you like to sit down?"**

Ekko nodded politely. He didn't feel quite so nervous. Had all of his attempts in the past hour or so worn him out? **"Thank you."**

He took the same seat he'd always taken, nudging the old cup that he'd fallen victim to once before away and replacing it with his own. He'd always said his " _please_ " and " _thank yous_ ", especially towards adults. It was just the right thing to do, you know? Do to others as you would have them do to you, or whatever that old saying was.

Strangely enough, it was _Janna_ of all people who started the conversation in this instance. It was probably a plus, not that Ekko understood that at the time. **"You look tense."** she said with worry weighing on her words, heaving her book closed. **"Try to relax."**

 **"S-Sorry, it's just..."** Ekko scratched at his ear, his form almost seeming to shrink somewhat. **"Trying something new."**

 **"Hmm?"** Janna perked up, hooking her cup handle with a single lithe digit. **"What's that?"**

Taking a moment to fish himself from the precipice of defeat, Ekko found his solution. **"Coffee."** he saved himself, mimicking her action and raising his drink without the pinkie flourish. He had masculinity to preserve, you know. **"Never tried it before. Smells really weird."**

 **"It's an acquired taste."** Janna pointed out, recalling her own rocky relationship with the beverage. They'd been everywhere together. Like all friendships, there were ups and downs. **"You can't be sure about these things unless you try them."**

 _What a lovely metaphor._

Shrugging his shoulders in acknowledgement, the prodigy decided to give it a try. It was _strong_. _Really_ not his thing. He thought it was pretty bad at first, but guess what? It got _worse._ Why would anyone have this over a soft drink? It was so thick, he could _chew_ on it. Chew, on a _liquid_!

Janna giggled all ladylike as he coughed in distaste, tapping the table with the tips of her manicured nails to grab his attention. **"You didn't put any sugar in, did you?"** she predicted, smelling the truth from a mile away. Picking at her saucer she procured a sachet of fine powder. **"Here."**

That smart alec part of him wanted to bluff as it always did, and pretend that this was all intended. But she was absolutely right. There was no point in pretending anymore. He reached for the packet of sugar, trying - perhaps too hard - to avoid brushing his fingers against hers. **"Thanks."**

As he peppered his coffee with a liberal amount of sugar, Janna watched on like a zoo keeper during mating season. He could feel his soul being laid bare by those sparkling eyes of hers. Suddenly she frowned, finding something amiss. **"... Are you sure you're okay?"**

 **"Yeah."** Ekko answered automatically, as he often did. **"I'm fine."** he insisted, hoping that it would be enough. Of course it wasn't, her maternal gaze throttling him like he owed her money. He had no choice but to surrender. **"... W-Well..."**

She was all ears in an instant, ready to receive his plight. **"I'm listening."**

For some bizarre reason, he felt perfectly content with speaking his heart in her company. **"... There's this girl."** he muttered, glancing at her. It wasn't a _lie_ per se. He was just focusing on the issue itself rather than the details. **"I really like her, but... I don't think she understands..."**

 **"I've tried so many things to get her to like me, but..."** Ekko shook his head, his chest sagging with despair. **"There's a reason I'm here right now."** he stressed, **"And I think I'm running out of chances."**

Janna exhaled in thought for quite some time, prodding at her smooth and round chin thoughtfully. It'd look childish on anyone else, but on her she looked like a flippin' scholar. **"You can't force these sort of things."** she said bluntly. Putting it simply really tempered the blow. **"Maybe you're just trying too hard?"** she threw out of the blue, picking at his brain. **"Forcing love on people only ever seems to break it."**

 _Love._

 _Why'd she have to say that dang word?_

 **"I guess."** he scowled, having trouble re-evaluating his approach. He'd been convincing himself that he'd found the only way. **"... So what should I do?"**

To that she merely shrugged, her snow white legs crossed. **"Get to know her. Understand her."** she leant forward conspiratorially, giving him a cheeky wink. **"No need to rush things."**

Within an instant he was staring at the caps of his shoes, examining every imperfection with fascination. **"... Man."** he groaned, rolling his eyes. **"Whose idea was it to make feelings so confusing?"**

Janna gave him that picturesque smile of hers - the one he wanted to frame and put on the ceiling over his bed to stare at after a hard day. **"Well, just remember that I'm here."** she offered, rising to her feet. You tended to forget just how tall her luscious legs made her until she stood. **"You'll get through this. I know you will."**

 _She held his hand._

To say that she " _held_ " it would probably be a bit too generous. For the briefest - if not the most reassuring - fraction of a second he'd ever experienced, she'd placed her hand atop his on the table. His entire fist had been curled up within her gentle and reassuring palm, tightly wrapped up and snug against the harshness of the world. It sounded corny, but that was a fact.

And so she left with that, her book held tightly at her side. His senses on overload, he spun on his seat and sent it rocking onto its hind legs as he called out for her. **"M-My name's Ekko!"**

Too elegant to turn and stumble, she raised a hand and waved back at him. **"I'll be here tomorrow, Ekko!"**

So she was gone. Once more she'd escaped from his grasp. It was strange actually, but for some reason she'd seemed genuinely interested in his well being. She'd wanted to help and give him guidance. As peculiar as it was, he was glad; he knew his parents tried their best, but they were often far too busy to give him much advice.

He glanced at the cafe's grand clock, keeping track of his place in time. Piltover had enough clocks in it to prevent anyone from using the alarm excuse for getting to work late. Regardless, he had a full minute to spare. More than enough time to spring backwards and try this once more before it was too late to make a difference.

He wanted her to be his _girlfriend,_ not his _friend._ That was why he'd come here in the first place, wasn't it?

But hadn't he been listening? She'd told him the right thing to do, plain and simple, yet here he was still tangling with a simple choice. He'd been objectifying her from the very start - she hadn't been a human being in his eyes, she'd been a symbol. An item to be gained.

A pair of lovely legs with a chest and head glued on top.

Common sense began to give his hormones a right kicking, understandably angered by such two dimensional thinking. He'd been rushing it all - forcing it, all in a desperate attempt to feed an animalistic mindset.

His hand was on the drawstring. One tug, and he'd be back at square one. He could try it again, without obstacle, and their conversation would've never happened. Perhaps it would end differently, and within the course of a few minutes they would be inseparable lovers?

 _Man, he really was a jerk._

The prodigy's arm slackened, letting go of the Zero-Drive's pulley and leaving it to dangle by his side. Maybe with time, something could grow and bloom? They could've been made for eachother, or perhaps they could've been polar opposites? They could become the closest of friends or the greatest of foes. Who knew?

 _That's what made life so exciting._

The point of no return whizzed by like it was nothing, the cafe continuing its lazy bustle as he reached a revelation. If she'd be here tomorrow, he would be waiting. She'd heard a bit about him; it would be her turn next. And he would be all ears.

Heck, in all intents and purposes he didn't even know her name yet. Eh?

Reaching for his steaming coffee, he downed the lot like any other adult would.

 _Not so bitter now._

X

 _(A/N): Thaaaaat ended up a lot more clunky and insubstantial than I thought :O_

 _This wasn't supposed to be much from the get go - just a short little sketch with a couple of time travel gags here and there. Pretty sure that's what it ended up being, but still. I always expect more than what I get :P_

 _Anywho, I hope you enjoyed! At a bit of a quandary about what I'm going to write next, although with results day on the way I really should be re-evaluating my focuses xD_


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